"Si. Trading routes. By land. Boat."
"Don't take this the wrong way, because I mean it as a compliment. But I've never met someone like you … as old as you."
"There aren't many of us. But there are a handful of vampires even older than me."
"Get the fuck out of here." Jake lifted another pan off the ceiling rack and turned on the water, preparing to make the grits.
"My sire was an asshole. Just the meanest son-of-a-bitch you'd ever want to meet. When you get turned, you aren't given much choice in the beginning. You learn from your sire how to survive." Quintus lifted his glass to his lips. "You must learn how to feed. Back then … if you were suspected of being a witch, they'd burn you to death. Heresy."
"Spanish inquisition?"
"Several years after I'd been turned, it began. Thank the Goddess I'd been trained."
"Brutal times. Plague. Famine."
"Difficult to watch the humans suffer. Unlike the mortals, we do not succumb to the plague and such diseases."
"And so you went to China … " Jake left the sentence hanging, curious to find out how he'd met a pixiu.
"That I did. And that's where I met Mao. Like Kai, she'd remained hidden for years. She lived in a remote village where they'd protected her. She was beautiful. A warrior."
"And I take it you two … "
"Yes. We fell in love. She was the one. I didn't care about children. It's very rare for vampires to have them anyway. If we choose to sire, it's similar to parenting."
Jake let silence fill the room, allowing Quintus to tell his story, and continued with his task of cooking.
"She foretold of a child who would cross my path someday. Asked me to watch over her. But she never wanted me to get too close, afraid I'd be tempted to taste of her energy. Or force a master upon her."
"She meant Kai?"
"I think so. I'll never know for sure but Kai is the only other pixiu I've ever met."
"How the hell did you even know she'd come here?"
"I didn't. It was serendipity. Happenstance. I'd been in San Francisco for a vampire affair. Kasdeya. She'd recently replaced her predecessor." He chuckled.
"Killed em', I take it?" Jake turned to him and gestured with the spatula as if he'd been stabbed.
"Si. Good ole Baxter never saw it coming."
"Lover?" Jake asked.
"They'd been together for a hundred years. Never bonded though. That should have been his first clue."
"That'll teach a guy not to commit," Jake joked.
"The night of the attack energy swarmed the entire city. Everyone knew something was going down. I'd followed them to Angel Island. While I've witnessed violence many times, it's never easy to watch children killed. Fortunately I'd never had to intervene. Little Kai. Her golden light. You could feel a shifter's presence."
"Her energy is her weapon," Jake said, retrieving plates from the cupboard.
"Anger, yes. But when she shifts. Ah … that will be her true power."
"And her master?"
"Her master has another secret weapon. One others cannot possibly conceive."
"Had Mao shifted?"
Quintus blew out a breath, his lips tensed in a firm line. "Never had a chance. My sire … he was much too strong. He took her. Killed her. I tried to save her but … "
"I'm sorry, man," Jake said softly. Sadness rolled off Quintus, and the Alpha paused in surprise that he'd felt a vampire's emotions.
"Since the attack, I've watched over Kai, her sister … to the best of my ability anyway. She'd been a recluse. Safe. Hunter Livingston. The Alpha knows she's supernatural. His wolves steer far clear of her."
"And Shilan?"
"Like Kai, I suspect a witch but the girl has never had the opportunity to exercise her powers. No formal training. The two of them have different fathers."
"And Kasdeya?"
"That bitch. She's never forgotten."
"I'm sure she figures if a little kid has the kind of power that will knock her on her ass, then it's something worth getting, huh?"
"She practices the dark arts. The demons are her servants. They swirl on the streets, waiting and watching for Kai."
"Reporting to their mistress," Jake added.
"My house is well protected. But our steps in between? Traces of our energy remain in the air. They filter through it, sensing our movement. They have a taste of Kai, know the flavor of her energy. Like bloodhounds, they search for her. We must be careful today."